The Pittsburgh Steelers took down the Las Vegas Raiders 23-18 on Sunday Night Football at Allegiant Stadium. But the Raiders benefitted from a questionable roughing the passer call that led to their second touchdown of the game.
The Raiders found themselves down 23-7 with 7:16 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick laid a big hit on Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a sack that would have forced a third and long.
However, Fitzpatrick was flagged for roughing the passer on the play for helmet-to-helmet contact on Garoppolo.
While Fitpatrick’s helmet did seemingly make contact with Garoppolo’s helmet, it sure looks like Fitzpatrick first hit Garoppolo with his shoulder, and his momentum then led to the helmets colliding.
Former NFL official turned NBC Sports rules official Terry McAuley made this case when asked about the call on the NBC broadcast of SNF.
“As I said before, yeah there is some (contact to the head),” said McAuley. “But it has to be forcible. The shoulder took the most of it.”
Fans on social media largely agreed with McAulay, saying that they did not see this as “forcible” helmet-to-helmet contact.
It really comes down to what you consider to be “forcible” contact. But Fitzpatrick pretty clearly didn’t intentionally lower his head for the tackle and hit Garoppolo with the shoulder first.
This play would end up being a big factor in the game, as the Raiders would go on to make it a one-possession game with a touchdown on the drive.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.